Automatic record changer



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AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER Original Filed Aug. 4, 1958 19 Sheets-Sheet 18 INVENTOR. 667 666 jam 0812111164 United States Patent 3,254,896 AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER James '1. Dennis, 2312 NW. 57th St., Oklahoma City, Okla. Continuation of application Ser. No. 752,969, Aug. 4, 1958. This application Jan. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 168,305 26 Claims. (Cl. 274) The present invention relates to automatic phonograph apparatus, and, more particularly, to a new and improved automatic record changer for photograph apparatus. Specifically, the present invention is a continuation of my copending application Serial No. 752,969 filed August 4, 1958.

In present day automatic record changers the records to be played are usually supported in a stack on the centering spindle of the changer and are individually deposited onto the turntable of the changer during successive record changing cycles. During these record changing cycles the turntable is continuously rotated and as a result when a record is dropped onto another record already on the rotating turntable the records scrape and grind against one another with considerable damage to the playing surfaces of the records. This is particularly noticeable in the case of high fidelity installations wherein even the dropping of a record on the rotating turntable itself, which is usually provided with a rubber mat, produces noticeable damage to the playing surface of the record due to the sliding of the record with respect to the upper surface of the turntable as the record is brought up to the speed of the rotating turntable.

It is, therefore, one of the important objects of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which substantial protection is provided for the records as they are deposited on the turntable during the record changing cycle. 1

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which substantial protection is provided for the records which are deposited on the turntable by stopping the turntable during the record changing cycle so that the record which is deposited does not grind or scrape over the records already on the turntable or the upper surface of the turntable itself.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which rotation of the turntable is terminated during at least a portion of the record changing cycle while providing automatic record changing means for moving the tone arm and positioning the records in sequence on the turntable during successive record changing cycles.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which a brake is applied to the turntable during the record changing cycle to stop the turntable and prevent wear on the records as they are deposited on the turntable during successive record changing cycles.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which the turntable is automatically brought smoothly to a standstill during the first part of the record changing cycle and is brought smoothly to the desired speed during the last part of the record changing cycle after the record has been deposited on the turntable.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which the turntable is automatically brought to a standstill during the first portion of the record changing cycle and at substantially the end of the record changing cycle is automatically brought to the playing speed of the record deposited on the turntable during the same record changing cycle.

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It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which the turntable is automatically brought to a standstill during the first portion of the record changing cycle and there is provided means responsive to the size of the record deposited on the turntable for thereafter automatically bringing the turntable to the playing speed of the deposited record.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which the turntable is automatically brought to a standstill during the first portion of each record changing cycle and there is provided means responsive to the size of the needle selected to engage the record for thereafter automatically bringing the turntable to the playing speed of the record deposited on the turntable during the same record changing cycle.

In most, if not all, of the present day automatic record changers, the record changer is automatic only in the sense that it'deposits records on the turntable of the record changer and positions the tone arm for playing the new record and these changes do not include facilities for changing the speed of the turntable automatically. In my copending application Serial No. 404,191, filed January 15, 1954, now US. Patent No. 2,956,830, there is disclosed a fully automatic record changer in which the speed of the turntable is automatically adjusted to the playing speed of the record deposited on the turntable. While the arrangement disclosed in my copending application is entirely suitable for its intended purpose, in some instances it may be desirable to incorporate in the record changer facilities for manual speed selection and to disable the automatic speed adjustment mechanism when a desired turntable playing speed is manually selected. Such an arrangement permits the playing of records such as the seven inch'33% r.p.m. record which is not now commercially offered, while retaining all of the advantages of automatic speed selection for conventional record sizes and speeds, as described in detail in my above identified copending application.

It is, therefore, another important object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein the turntable speed is automatically adjusted in accordance with the size of the record deposited on the turntable while, at the same time, permitting the speed of the turntable to be manually adjusted at any time to a desired one of a plurality of playing speeds. I

-It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein the turntable speed is automatically adjusted in accordance 1 with the size of the needle selected to engage the record while, at the same time, permitting the speed of the turntable to be manually adjusted at any time to a desired playing speed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer having a single control knob for both manual and automatic.

speed selection, this control knob having a first position in which the speed of the turntable is automatically adjusted in accordance with the size of the record deposited on the turntable and having a plurality of different positions in which different positions the speed of the turntable is manually adjusted to desired playing speeds.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein an automatic speed changing mechanism is provided for automatically adjusting the speed of the turntable in accordance with the size of the record deposited on the turntable and the size of the needle which is selected to engage a record on the turntable, this automatic speed changing mechanism being simple in construction, readily adapted 

1. IN AN AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER, A ROTATABLE TURNTABLE FOR SUPPORTING RECORDS TO BE PLAYED, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID TURNTABLE, AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGING MEANS INCLUDING CENTERING SPINDLE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A STACK OF RECORDS ABOVE SAID TURNTABLE AND SUCCESSIVELY RELEASING INDIVIDUAL RECORDS OF THE STACK ONTO SAID TURNTABLE DURING SUCCESSIVE RECORD CHANGING CYCLES, SAID RECORD CHANGING MEANS INCLUDING A CYCLING MEMBER MOVABLE OVER A PREDETERMINED PATH DURING THE RECORDING CHANGING CYCLE, A TONE ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED BEYOND THE EDGE OF SAID TURNTABLE AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE RECORDS OF DIFFERENT SIZES ON SAID TURNTABLE, A TONE ARM INDEXING MEMBER HAVING A HEAD PORTION WHICH IS STRUCK BY A RECORD AS IT IS RELEASED TO SAID TURNTABLE BY SAID AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGING MEANS AND AN ELONGATED PORTION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID HEAD PORTION, SAID INDEXING MEMBER BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT ABOUT THE BOTTOM END OF SAID ELONGATED PORTION THEREOF, SPRING BIAS MEANS FOR URGING SAID INDEXING MEMBER TO A FORWARD POSITION IN WHICH SAID HEAD PORTION MAY BE STRUCK BY A RECORD, MEANS CONTROLLED BY MOVEMENT OF SAID CYCLING MEMBER AND COOPERATING WITH SAID SPRING BIAS MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID INDEXING MEMBER IN A RETRACTED POSITION BETWEEN RECORD CHANGING CYCLES AND MOVING SAID INDEXING MEMBER OF SAID FORWARD POSITION DURING EACH RECORD CHANGING CYCLE AND BEFORE A RECORD IS RELEASED TO SAID TURNTABLE, SAID INDEXING MEMBER BEING MOVED TO AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION BY ENGAGEMENT OF THE OUTER EDGE PORTION OF A RECORD THEREWITH AS THE RECORD IS RELEASED TO SAID TURNTABLE, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID INDEXING MEMBER OF SAID INTERMEDIATE POSITION FOR POSITIONING SAID TONE ARM TO ENGAGE THE LEAD-IN GROOVE OF THE RECORD RELEASED TO SAID TURNTABLE DURING THE SAME RECORD CHANGING CYCLE. 